Steam-feed for sawmills



' (No Model.)

W. E. HILL. STEAM 4FEED FOR SAWMILLS.

vNo. 509,737. Patented Nov.- z8, 189s.

Wtnsssss:

| NAL m'rcowrnma cmMPANv UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. HILL, OF KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN.

STEAM-FEED FOR srAwMlLLs.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 509,737, dated November28, 1893.

Application filed December 23, 1892. Serial No. 456,146. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. HILL, a citizen of the United States,residing at the vcity of Kalamazoo, in the county of Kalamasaw-mills,and more particularly to that kind; of feeding devices where thesaw-mill car-l riage is moved back and forth by the piston` rod of asteam cylinder directly attached to it.`

The objects of my improvements are rst to provide a suitable means ofattaching the piston rod to the carriage so that the carriage can beo-set; second, to provide an elastic cushion of steam in the ends of thecylinder to prevent the piston striking solid against the heads of thecylinder; third, to provide a suitable cut-off so that only a portion ofthe entire length of the cylinder| need be used; fourth, to provide apivotal connection of the piston rod to the piston in the cylinder;fifth, to so shape the piston that it will guide itself; and sixth, toprovidea suitable joint to unite the sections of the cylinder. I attainthese objects by themechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in which* Figure l, is a side view of the entire machine in sections.Fig. 2, is a detail View of the rear end of the cylinder and the piston,partly in section. Fig. 3, is a view of a longitudinal section throughone of the joints between sections of the steam cylinder. Fig. 4, is aview on line 4*-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5, is a view of the case D, partly insection, on line 5-5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6, is a View on line 6 6 of Fig 5,and Fig. 7, is a view on line 7-7 of Fig. 5.

Similar letters referto similar parts throughout the several views.

C is the farther half of a saw-mill carriage in the usual form. The longsteam cylinder A is placed directly under the carriage and is fastenedby means of lugs to timbers B that rest on the mill floor.

The piston H, of the cylinder is made of considerable length so that itacts as a guide to itself and needs no support from the piston rod tokeep it in position. The piston rod E is pivoted to the piston H, sothat there will be no tendency to bind from any sagging of the cylinder,or of the piston rod, which is very likely to occur on account of thegreat length. The piston rod E, projects through a stuffing box andguide at the head of the cylinder and is attached to the carriage C, bymeans of the case D, which is bolted to the under side of the carriage,and its contained mechanism. The end of the piston rod E, is attachedrmly to the plate P., (Figs. 5, 6, and 7.) The plate P, and with it theend of the piston rod E are suspended by the links I, I, to the case D,by the pin S. The links I, make it possible to oifset the carriagewithout any transverse motion to the piston rod E which would cause itto bind. The plate P, is held in position by the four ant-ifrictionrollers fm, m, fm, m, two being placed on each side of the pins a, "ma",r, which are attached to the case D. Should the feed be used with acarriage that does not off-set a pin as shown by the dotted lines inFigs. 5, and 6, can be passed through the case D, and through a hole alittle larger than the pin, in the links I, I, which will limit itsmotion but still allow sufficient play to prevent any binding of thepiston rod. The rollers m, are not cylindrical, the periphery beingconvex. This allows the plate P, to tip and accommodate itself to anysag in the piston rod E. All binding of the plateI, between the rollersis also thereby prevented.

The valve F, which is operated by the lever G, connected by theconnecting rod i', is

adapted to admit steam at either end of the cylinder and allow it todischarge from the opposite end at the same time. I do not show detailsof this valve as it is not material to this invention. The pipes c, andc', both supply the steam and serve as exhaust pipes, the steam beingreceived at c, and is discharged at b. The pipes c, and c open into theextreme ends of the cylinder A. d, and t, are pipes leading across fromthe pipe c, to the cylinder A. 71., and h are pipes leading across tocylinder A, from pipe c. At the end of the pipe c, near the point whereit enters the cylinder A, is a check valve c, that prevents any passageof steam from the cylinder A, at that point, but allows steam to enter.At the end of the pipe c is located a check valve e, that prevents anysteam from ICO passing from the cylinder A, at that point but allowssteam to enter. In Ythe cross pipe t is located a check valve e thatprevents any steam passing into the cylinder A, through that pipe. Globevalves f, f, f, and f, are placed in all the cross pipes. As it will notbe necessary to make frequent changes inY these valves I have thoughtbest to operate them by the common hand Wheels. Where the length of logssawed is constantly varying, lever valves can be used and operated bylevers above the floor or by levers'similar to the lever G, could beplaced in reach of the sawyer. This, however, Will seldom be foundnecessary, and when itV is any skilled mechanic can supply the necessarymechanism.

My machine is operated and controlled by the lever G, Which l haveWeighted at the bottom t-o cause it to return to theY vertical position.Pushing the top of the lever toward the cylinder admits steam throughthe pipe c, past the check valve e, to the rear of cylinder A. Thisforces the piston H, forward carrying the pistonr rod and the carriage.Thesteam inthe opposite end of the cylinder escapes through thefpipes hor h or both. The check valve e prevents the steam from passing out atthe end of the cylinder so that after the end of the piston passes thepipesliirfh, whichever is open, it compresses the steam in the end ofthe cylinder which acts as a cushion and prevents the vcylinder headfrom receiving a violent blow, which Would cause injury. Pulling thelever G in the opposite direction admits steam through the pipe c pas-tthe check val-ve e to the front end of the cylinder A. This forces thepiston H, back and vreturns the carriage; the steam in the rea-r of thepiston escaping throu-gh the pipe d, the valve f, in the pipe t beingclosed, the steam acting as a cushion in the rear end of the cylinderthe same as in the front end. The dotted line in Fig. 2, shows theposition of the piston H, where the steam or air is acting as a cushion.Of course, the air in the cylinder acts as a cushion when the machinefirst starts. The piston H, is made long enough so that it never passesto the end of the cylinderA, beyond the ports of the pipes d or h and has the case may be. There is a check valve'e in the pipe t, thatprevents steam passing into the cylinder A, from the pipe c.

By closing the valve at f, in the pipe d, and opening the valve f, ofthe pipe t, the piston will begin to cushion on the steam in the end ofthe cylinder on passing the port to the pipe t. This in effect shortensthe cylinder` to that point. The object of having the cross pipet andcheck valve e' is to enable theoperator to cut off a part of thecylinder so that it will not be necessary to use the entire length ofthe cylinder A, when sawing short logs. Itis necessary to close thevalve f inthis pipe t, when using the Whole length of the cylinder, forif it were not closed the steam, when the piston returning toward therear end passed the pipe t, would escape from the cylinder past thecheck valve e. Similar cross pipes with check valves can be inserted atintervals on the cylinder so as to give several different lengths ofstroke to the piston. The extra cross pipe h,'with its valve is for adifferent purpose than shortening the stroke of the piston in thecylinder. crease the amount of steam and the length of the steam chamberagainst which the piston cushions. The two pipes h, and h', are

to make this cushion adjustable in length.v

Where very heavy timber is on the carriage the longer cushion should beused as it will nbe required to overcome the momentum. Of

course check valves are not needed where the cross pipes are so near theend of the cylinder that the piston cannot pass clear by them. Thecylinder A, being very long to answer its purpose in sawing long timbersit is necessary to make it in sections and unite the sections. Themethod-of joining the sections is shown in Fig. 3, and Fig. Li. Flangesare cast on each end `of the sections of the cylinder as shown. Ashoulder is turned into the end of eachsection and a ring of gun metalor some other metal that expands more rapidly when heated than the metalof the cylinder, is placed between, the object being to have the ringexpand Vand fill the space, making it steam tight. The ring is longenough to keep the tlanges of the cylinder a little distance apart sothat the bolts draw the sections of the cylinder solid against the ringn. The edges of the ring and of the cylinder are slightly rounded toprevent the joint injuring the piston and to let the pis-ton passsmoothly.

While I have'shown my invention specially adapted to use as a saw-millfeed, it is capable o'f many other uses, such as carrying a cut-offsawing machine back and forth, or moving a carriage back and forth, fora limited distance for any purpose. f

I am aware that steam cylinders With their piston rods attached to thecarriage have been used for this purpose before, so Ido not claim thatbroadly,'but

What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In asteam saw-mill feed the combination of the cylinder A, containingthe elongated piston head H, the piston rod E, pivoted thereto, passingthrough a stufng box at the end, and attached to the log carriage forthe purpose speciiied. A

2. In a steam saw-mill feed asteam cylinder cast in sections with arin-g of metal highly expansive, when heated, between, in combinationWith a piston and piston rod attached to a carriage and suitable meansyfor operating the same.

3. In a saw-mill feed-operated by the direct action of a piston andpiston rod, the combin-ation of the piston rod E, secured to the plateP, which is guided by the convex antifriction rollers m, Vfm, m, m, andsuspended by the links I, I, all being in a suitable frame attached tothe carriage C.

Its object is to in IIO 4. In a saw-mill feed provided with suitablemeans for controlling it, the combination of a steam cylinder and itspiston and piston rod, the piston rod being securely attached at rightangles to a transverse plate, which is movable transversely in asuitable frame attached to the carriage, for the purpose specified.

5. In a steam saw-mill feed having a steam cylinder with a piston andpiston rod attached to the carriage, the valve F operated by anysuitable means, in combination with the pipes c and c', entering at eachend of the cylinder A, with check valves e, and e, at the ends checkingfrom the cylinder, cross pipes d, h and h, through which the steamexhausts for the purpose specified.

6. In a saw-mill feed operated by the direct action of the piston oi' asteam cylinder, the combination of the pipes c, and c', with checkvalves at the ends opening into the inlet ports at each end of the steamcylinders with two or more closable outlet ports at different distancesfrom the end, (check valves being placed in the exhaust pipes whennecessary,) so as to cut o a portion of the cylinder and shorten thestroke of the piston when required.

'7. In a steam saw-mill feed, the combination of the cylinder A, theelongated piston H, the piston rod E, pivoted to the piston H, the caseD, containing the transverse plate P, the antifriction rollers m, thelinks I; thc carriage C the steam-pipes o, and o', containing the checkvalves e and e; the cross pipes d, t, h and 71 containing valves, thecheck valve e' in the cross pipe t, and the valve F, operated bythelever G, connected tothe valve stem j, by the connecting rod t',substantially as described for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal in the presenceof two witnesses.

WILLIAM E. HILL. [L s] Witnesses:

E. S. Roos, CoRA E. WEsTBRooK.

